General War Order No. 1

On this day, 150 years ago, President Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1, in a desperate effort to push Little Mac into doing something - anything - against the South.

Two weeks earlier, in a tense meeting with various generals and cabinet members, General George McClellan claimed to have a plan for a campaign against Virginia, but he refused to provide any details of the plan. But in the two weeks that followed, Lincoln failed to see McClellan making any preparations for a campaign.

In his frustration, without consulting any members of his cabinet, he issues General War Order No. 1, ordering "a general movement" of all Union Land and Naval forces against the Confederacy to be launched on February 22, George Washington's birthday.

Lincoln's General War Order No. 1,
courtesy of the Library of Congress

McClellan will bristle at this mandate, and he will argue for more time. Nonetheless. this order will prompt him to begin concrete preparations for his Urbanna plan, which will eventually become the Peninsula Campaign, his epic incursion into Virginia in April 1862.

Battle of Mill Springs

"Their Government has laid heavy taxes on you to carry on this unnatural war, which is openly avowed to be to set at liberty your slaves, and the ensuing steps in which will be to put arms in their hands, and give them political and social equality with yourselves."

Brig. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer

On this date, 150 years ago, Brig Gen Felix Zollicoffer was killed in the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky, the first major Union victory of the Civil War.

1/13/1861: Little Mac Returns ... with a Secret Plan

On this day, 150 years ago, Gen. George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac and General-in-Chief of all Federal armies, recovering from a month-long struggle with typhoid fever, emerged from his sick bed and returned to active command.

Gen. George B. McClellan
courtesy of Civil War Academy.com

Three days earlier, at the suggestion of Quartermaster Montgomery Meigs, President Lincoln had convened the first of several war councils. McClellan had been bedridden since mid-December, and Lincoln feared he may remain so for many more weeks to come. In his absence, Lincoln called on his other generals (Irvin McDowell and William Franklin) to consider new plans for an offensive against Virginia.

It was during the first meeting, on Jan. 10, that Lincoln reported said that “if General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it, provided I can see how it can be made to do something.” At this meeting, McDowell proposed another advance on Manassas, while Franklin proposed an advance on Richmond from the Chesapeake Bay. Lincoln tasked these men to study their options more fully and scheduled another meeting.

The following day, soon-to-be Secretary of War Edwin Stanton visited McClellan and warned him of the "grand conclave" that had met without his knowledge. McClellan interpreted the meeting as a conspiracy against his authority. On the morning of the 12th, he "gathered strength enough" for a carriage ride to the White House, paying the President an unannounced visit. Surprised by his seemingly sudden recovery, Lincoln invited him to the next war council, scheduled for the following day.

On that day, January 13, 1861, Gen. McClellan attends an awkward meeting at the White House with President Lincoln, Quartermaster Meigs, Generals McDowell and Franklin, and Secretaries Chase and Seward. During this meeting, McClellan reveals that he does, in fact, have a plan for a campaign against Virginia ... but refuses to discuss any details of the plan. Once McClellan assures him that a fixed date is set for the assault, Lincoln does not press him to reveal its details.

This is the first step towards implementing McClellan's Urbanna Plan, the initial draft of what will become the Peninsula Campaign, the Union invasion of Virginia from the Chesapeake Bay, destined to be the largest military mobilization of the Civil War.

For a more detailed (and more amusing) version of these events, please check out the excellent Civil War Daily Gazette.

Fort Marcy: Defending the Chain Bridge

My Sunday plans at Fort Marcy didn’t fare much better than Saturday, but it wasn’t my fault. According to the NPS calendar of events, an event had been scheduled for 1pm that afternoon. We arrived about 1:10, and here is what we saw:

Slow day at Fort Marcy

I was rather deflated. Fort Marcy is a nice park, but I almost never see any activity out there. It features a large open space ringed by earthworks, with a few picnic tables, a couple of cannons, and some interpretive signage. It seems like an ideal space for some “living history” activity. I can’t guess why it was cancelled.

The grounds of Fort Marcy

Fort Marcy is the only unit in the NPS Fort Circle Parks located on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. It is located in McLean, VA, accessible from the northbound side of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Along with Fort Ethan Allen, Fort Marcy was an earthwork fort built to guard access to the Chain Bridge, one of the main access points into Washington from Virginia.

Fort Marcy during the Civil War,
courtesy of Wikipedia.

Fort Marcy was built on Prospect Hill, which overlooked the Leesburg Turnpike. Fort Ethan Allen overlooked Military Road. Both forts were built on property belonging to Gilbert Vanderwerken, and they were connected by an extensive line of rifle trenches that stretched to the Potomac.

One of the two guns in Fort Marcy.
By 1862, the fort  was armed with 17 guns and 3 mortars.

Originally the fort was called Fort Baldy Smith, after Brig. Gen. William F. Smith, whose men had originally occupied the hill and started work on the fort. General George McClellan officially named it Fort Marcy on September 30, 1861, in honor of Brig. Gen. Randolph B. Marcy, his chief of staff and father-in-law. After a long and complicated courtship, McClellan married Ellen Marcy on May 22, 1860, about a year before he was appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac.

The fort saw no action during the war, but the men stationed there spent much of the war on alert.

A Visit to the Lincoln Memorial

Sadly, my weekend plans did not pan out as I hoped. I had to run an important errand on Saturday morning, and so did not get to Rock Creek Park in time for the 11 AM hike to Fort DeRussy. (Luckily, the NPS has another DeRussy hike planned for February 4. Perhaps I’ll have better luck then.)

Not wanting to waste a beautiful day, we found some parking on Constitution Avenue near the State Dept, and then ambled over the Einstein Memorial and then on to the Lincoln Memorial.

Always fun to visit Lincoln.

The weather was excellent, the crowds were thin. Certainly not a bad alternative to a fort hike.

The Reflecting Pool is being renovated,
and still looks pretty rough.

On Sunday, we made it to Fort Marcy. More on that tomorrow.

"The Bottom Is Out of the Tub"

On Friday, January 10, 1862, the President, in great distress, entered my office. He took a chair in front of the open fire and said, ‘General, what shall I do? The people are impatient: Chase has no money and he tells me he can raise no more; the General of the Army has typhoid fever. The bottom is out of the tub. What shall I do?’

                        --Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs

It was 150 years ago today (according to Montgomery Meigs) that President Lincoln made his famous lament that "the bottom is out of the tube.” At the time, Gen. McClellan was sick with fever, the Army of the Potomac was idle, the armies of the Western Theater were also idle, winter was setting in (thus precluding the prospects of any major action for months), and Lincoln was feeling pretty low.

Meigs responded by suggesting that Lincoln call a war council of his other generals to review the situation and consider a possible action in McClellan’s absence. Lincoln would call that council two days later, which would inadvertently push McClellan into launching his historic Peninsula Campaign.

To prepare for the imminent anniversary of the Seven Days Battles, I am currently reading Stephen W. Sears' excellent To the Gates of Richmond. As April approaches, don't be surprised if the Peninsula Campaign starts to monopolize my attention on the blog.

Warm Day on the Accotink

No history lessons today, but I do have some more pics from Lake Accotink. Three days ago, while standing on the A&O foot trail, I enjoyed a few minutes of snow. Today, I enjoyed the remarkable absence of snow.

This foot trail was built on the original rail bed
of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad.

We had excellent weather today, clear skies, high around 60 degrees. So I spent my lunch break at Lake Accotink (again), and I suddenly remembered that, at about this time year, we visited Lake Accotink and it was completely frozen over.

Lake Accotink, the modern trestle, with historical marker
and official Civil War Trails interpretive signage.

More accurately, it was Christmas Day 2010. During that holiday week, we also visited Turkey Run Park and Fort Washington. We saw ice on the Potomac River. It was seriously cold. But this year, it's been fairly warm (with a few periods of chilliness). Of course, I'm hoping to put this fair weather to good use by seeing as many historical sites as I can before the inevitable chill falls on us. 

Historical marker, courtesy of the Fairfax Country History Commission.

I'm afraid I may wind up using Accotink photos as blog filler during my work days ... not because it's the nicest park in North Virginia, but because I visit the Park so frequently. The weekends are my only time to explore new sites and cook up new content.

Speaking of which ... the National Park Service is hosting a batch of events this weekend at several Defenses of Washington sites, including a hiking tour to Fort DeRussy and a "living history" event at Fort Marcy. I hope to catch at least one of these events (although the DeRussy hike looks dubious at the moment). Hopefully I'll have something fresh to write about by Sunday.